Dan Plath is Chief of Resource Management at the Indiana Dunes National Park for the National Park Service. Plath was inspired to start working for the National Park Service when he started to see the destruction of nature as a kid.
“We had miles of forests, rivers, and streams where I grew up. We lived near the intersection between where there were natural areas and where there were some industries in development coming into the area. That’s where I started to see some of the destruction of nature. I also used to be on the racing circuit for Indiana for kayaking, and I paddled almost every river that was navigable in the state, which inspired me to protect rivers,” said Plath
Even before working at the Dunes National Park, Plath has always been involved with nature.
“I grew up kayaking and out in nature a lot. I spent the better part of my youth just out exploring forests, rivers, and streams,” said Plath.
Plath has been very passionate about kayaking ever since he was a little boy.
“My oldest brother had a kayak and he would take me out paddling when I was a kid. Then it was something that was always kind of stuck in the back of my mind to want to get into kayak racing. Then I met Mike Grub and he was really heavily into the kayaking community and got me into racing. I started when I was about 10 years old and then was on the racing circuit until I was almost done with college,” said Plath.
Once Plath graduated from college he noticed that he didn’t have much time to do kayak racing, but it still remained a big passion. This inspired him to look into starting a non-profit organization called Northwest Indiana Paddling Association.
“I helped start the Northwest Indiana Paddling Association. It’s a nonprofit in Northwest Indiana that protects our waterways and restores them. We also help educate people on how important the waterways are. We put on about a dozen kayaking events a year for the public to build camaraderie and build a community around paddling in Northwest Indiana,” said Plath.
Plath values the importance of educating people on how important nature can be.
“Getting people to appreciate the natural world is really kind of my core mission in life, especially our rivers, streams, and lakes. Valuing what we have, what gems we have in our backyard, and working to preserve and protect them is really core to everything I believe in,” said Plath.
Plath is not the only one in his family that enjoys the water as much as he does.
“My oldest son, Eric Plath, who's 14 now started a company called Path paddle company, and he builds custom canoe and stand-up paddleboards. He started at the very beginning of the pandemic, he has sold about 50 panels now to this point,” said Plath.
Plath encourages his kids to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible.
“My wife and I decided before we had kids that there were going to be no video games period. It's been really good for our family to enjoy the outdoors. They enjoy being outside paddling, fishing, kayaking, and woodworking. Then when they're inside, they're always playing on their instruments, trying to create music,” said Plath
Plath will always spread his love and passion for nature and he hopes to inspire others to do the same.
For more information on Plath’s son’s business go to www.plathpaddlecompany.com